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No. 4 Mountaineers' Season Ends in Elite Eight
November 28, 2015 07:16 PM | Women's Soccer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A record-setting run in the 2015 NCAA Tournament came to an end tonight for the No. 4-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team, as the Mountaineers fell, 2-0, at No. 6 Penn State in an Elite Eight match at Jeffrey Field.
Two first-half goals were too much for the Mountaineers (19-3-1, 6-0-1) to overcome on the road, as PSU pushed its tournament four-game goal total to 17. The Nittany Lions (20-3-2, 8-2-1 Big Ten) advance to the NCAA College Cup and will face Rutgers in the semifinal on Dec. 4.
“Tons of credit goes out to Penn State tonight. I thought they did a great job coming out and pressuring us and creating their two chances and finishing them,” said Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “All the best of luck to Penn State.
“The difference tonight was Penn State finished its chances, and we didn’t. I thought (PSU goalkeeper) Britt (Eckerstrom) made two great saves. Unfortunately, we made a couple of critical mistakes, but the credit goes to Penn State for pressuring us on those mistakes. At the end of the day, it could have gone either way in my book.”
Tonight marks only the third time this season the Mountaineers were held without a goal. WVU finished the 2015 season with a program-record 61 goals.
The Mountaineers got behind early, as PSU midfielder Emily Ogle connected on a free kick from 27-yards out in the 12th minute. Positioned near the left wing, Ogle curved her kick over Mountaineer defenders’ heads and past the outstretched hands of senior goalkeeper Hannah Steadman. The goal marked only the third time this season a WVU opponent scored first.
Momentum shifted WVU’s way quickly after the goal, and senior forward Kailey Utley registered the team’s first shot in the 17th minute, but her attempt near the penalty-kick line was saved by Eckerstrom.
Steadman came up big in the 30th minute, as she sprawled out along the goal line and stuffed Frannie Crouse’s chip shot to keep the game at 1-0.
Steadman was unable to come up with a save on Crouse’s second attempt in the 39th minute, as she made good on her second shot of the night. Standing just inside the 18-yard box, Crouse received a cross from Ellie Jean near the left corner of the box and connected on her shot to the upper left corner of the net.
Facing the two-goal deficit, the Mountaineers came out of halftime attacking. WVU earned its second corner kick of the match in the 48th minute. The ball eventually made its way to junior defender Kadeisha Buchanan, but her bouncing shot from inside the box was met at the left post by Eckerstrom.
Crouse applied pressure again in the 70th minute, but Steadman came up big on two attempts, meeting the attacker at the top of the box in the 70th minute and blocking her first shot with her body. Less than three minutes later, Steadman made a highlight-worthy kick save on a charging Crouse, getting her toes on the ball and pushing it out of bounds.
Pressured again by Crouse in the 76th minute, Steadman made a punch save on her baseline shot. The ball bounced back to midfielder Raquel Rodriguez, but her attempt went high.
WVU had a great chance late in the 80th minute, as sophomore forward Amandine Pierre-Louis took a hard, lofting shot from 25 yards out. Eckerstrom jumped to tip the ball above the crossbar and out of play for a Mountaineer corner kick, but WVU could not get a clean look off the set piece.
PSU finished with a 14-8 edge in shots. Steadman made six saves, and WVU forced Eckerstrom into three. Both teams earned four corner kicks.
WVU finished the season 1-1 against PSU, having defeated the Nittany Lions, 1-0, on Sept. 4, in Morgantown. Tonight’s defeat puts the all-time series at 6-7-1.
The Mountaineers’ run to the Elite Eight was their program second and the team’s first since 2007. The four-time reigning Big 12 Conference regular-season champions, the 2015 Mountaineers are the winningest team in program history. Ranked inside the top 10 each week but two this season, the Mountaineers reached as high as a program-best No. 2 twice this year. The WVU defense posted a program-record 15 shutouts and allowed program-low 11 opponent goals.
“It’s hard to not think about and celebrate the 19 wins – it’s just that this last loss hurts a whole lot more than those 19 wins,” Izzo-Brown said. “It’s tough. I’m in a moment where it’s tough to think about right now. We’ll have a great opportunity to celebrate just how special this team was this season. In no way do these 90 minutes sum up this season. We had a lot of great and special moments.”
Tonight marked the final contest for six Mountaineer seniors: Steadman, Utley, Maggie Bedillion, Leah Emaus, Amanda Hill and Kelsie Maloney. The group won six conference titles and compiled a four-year record of 52-14-12. All but Bedillion and Steadman played in 80-plus career matches. Hill started all 88 career matches at defensive center midfield and ranks No. 3 on the all-time career starts list. Steadman graduates ranked No. 1 on the Mountaineer career goals-against average chart (0.59) and No. 5 on the career shutouts list (23).
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